Category: FEATURED

The National Assembly on Thursday passed a constitutional amendment seeking the much-awaited merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with a 229-1 vote in favour. Lawmakers from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chose to walk out from the assembly ahead of the vote. Dawar Kundi from the PTI was the sole dissenting vote in the final count. A session of the Senate has been called on Friday (tomorrow) to review the bill and give assent. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas represent…

4 The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday published the final electoral rolls ahead of General Elections 2018. According to the rolls, 105.96 million voters will be able to cast their vote in the upcoming elections. Of these, 59.22m are male and 46.73m are females, with the gender gap between male and female rising to around 12.5m. According to the figures, 55.9 per cent of the registered voters in Pakistan are males while only 44.1pc are females. The numbers are approximately 23 per cent higher than the figures for…

In accordance with the orders of the apex court, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has launched a formal probe against Bahria Town Karachi, Bahria Town Lahore and Bahria Town Rawalpindi, according to a press release issued by the watchdog on Monday. NAB Chairman Javed Iqbal has directed the relevant directors general to complete their investigation within three months, in line with the court’s directions. On May 4, the Supreme Court, in three hard-hitting verdicts against the real estate empire, had declared the procurement of land by Bahria Town for its housing projects…

Sabika Sheikh, a 17-year-old Pakistani scholar participating in the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) programme in the US, was one of the 10 people killed when a teenage classmate armed with a shotgun and a revolver opened fire in the Santa Fe High School in Texas yesterday. “We found out about the shooting from a local TV channel and tried, but failed to contact Sabika and her friends,” said Sabika’s father Abdul Aziz, while adding that they then contacted the YES programme coordinator, who confirmed the news of their daughter’s death,…

Britain’s Prince Harry and US TV star Meghan Markle exchanged wedding vows in front of a star-studded congregation as tens of thousands of fans cheered in the street and millions watched around the world. Harry and the bride’s mother Doria Ragland looked visibly moved and the couple held hands in a ceremony led by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Harry’s 92-year-old grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip were in attendance as Markle arrived in St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, wearing a long white veil and a…

Four people, including three children, were killed while 10 were injured in unprovoked ceasefire violations across the Working Boundary (WB) by India on Friday, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release said. According to the army’s media wing, the Punjab Rangers are responding to Indian fire and targeting Indian posts which initiated fire in the Sialkot sector as intermittent fire continues. The Foreign Office said that the violations took place in Pukhlian, Cahprar, Harpal, Charwah and Shakargarh sectors and identified the deceased as a woman, Kalsoom, and her three children…

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday petitioned the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to declare as null and void the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) March 12 decision ordering the formation of a committee to scrutinise the minutiae of the PTI’s sources of funding. Dissident founder member of the PTI and the petitioner in the case, Akbar S. Babar, had filed the case before the ECP in 2014 after he developed differences with Imran Khan over internal corruption and abuse of laws governing political funding. The petitioner had alleged…

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, during a press conference in Islamabad on Monday, said that Nawaz Sharif’s statements about the Mumbai attacks in an interview to Dawn were being misrepresented by Indian media — and people in Pakistan should not become party to the propaganda. The press conference was held shortly after the conclusion of a National Security Council (NSC) session, which was convened to discuss “recent misleading media statement” regarding the Mumbai attacks. According to DawnNewsTV, PM Abbasi dispelled the impression that Nawaz had said that the Mumbai attacks had been planned in…

NEELUM: At least 20 tourists were swept away when a bridge collapsed in Neelum Valley, Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, according to the police. Police officials said around 25 tourists stopped to take pictures on the bridge, located in Nala Jagran area of the region, when it collapsed as it could not withstand the pressure. An operation is under way to rescue the tourists, with authorities having recovered five bodies and rescued at least six people up till now. Personnel of the Pakistan Army are also assisting in the…

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump un­­loaded on Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen at a heated cabinet meeting this week, railing against her for failing to stop illegal border crossings. Trump, who has been growing increasingly frustrated by a spike in apprehensions at the border and other legal setbacks, blamed Nielsen on Wednesday for failing to do enough to stop them, according to people familiar with the exchange. Nielsen, one person said, tried to explain the issues were complex and that the department’s powers were limited by a slew of legal restrictions.…

ISLAMABAD: The capital administration held five rounds of discussions with deposed cleric of Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz and did not allow him to lead Friday prayers and deliver the weekly sermon in the mosque. The last round of talks between the administration and the cleric started on Friday morning and concluded less than an hour before the prayers. Scores of women clad in black burqas with some of them carrying sticks gazed down at the streets from the windows and rooftops of the new Jamia Hafsa in G-7/3-4 as…

KARACHI: Police submitted on Friday interim charge sheets against former Malir SSP Rao Anwar and others before the administrative judge of antiterrorism courts in a case of foisting weapons and explosives upon Naqeebullah Mehsud and three other victims. Rao Anwar and then DSP Qamar Ahmed Shaikh along with their 10 absconding subordinates have been booked in the second case for foisting pistols and hand grenades upon Naqeeb and three others after killing them in a staged shoot-out on Jan 13 in Shah Latif Town. Investigating Officer SSP Dr Rizwan Ahmed…

In what appears to be a tit-for-tat move, the Foreign Ministry on Friday imposed reciprocal travel restrictions on American diplomats in the country as similar restrictions on the movement of Pakistani diplomats in the United States (US) comes into effect today. A ministry notification issued to the US Embassy in Islamabad yesterday stated that the reciprocal measures would come into effect immediately after US restrictions are implemented. The measures include travel restrictions, as well as treating US diplomatic cargo at Pakistani airports and ports in accordance with Vienna Convention’s Article…

Pakistani-origin Italian citizen Sana Cheema ─ whose death in Gujrat, was reported by Italian media as an alleged honour killing ─ was found to have been strangled to death, according to an autopsy report obtained by Dawn on Wednesday. The autopsy was conducted by Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Teaching Hospital’s Dr Komal Ishaq after the Punjab Forensic Science Agency sent Sana’s forensic report to the hospital. The forensic report stated that the victim’s voice box was swollen and the right cornua of her hyoid bone (in the neck) had been dislocated. The forensic…

Oslo (Bureau Report) A Norwegian Pakistani Welfare Organization would launch a professional training program for disable youth in Pakistan. Norwegian Pakistani head of the organization “SCOON” Mr Shahid Jamil while addressing a charity dinner in Oslo, the capital city said, “The disable youth empowerment program will be started in third quarter of this year.” Prominent Pakistani Film director Syed Noor was chief guest of the gathering which was attended by a number of the Norwegian Pakistani people from different walks of life. Pakistan’s Ambassador to Norway Ms Riffat Masood was…